Networking No-Nos

There are very good reasons
for building a robust and effective professional network. These include:
helping others - which is the most important in my view; being found,
so that opportunities can come your way; and asking for help, should you
need it. This is especially so in a crowded and increasingly
competitive marketplace. Having a credible offer of value that you can
promise, gaining visibility and building a sort of ‘good will credit’ in
the bank account of others, are really at the core of networking.

There are inevitably some absolute no-nos that are worth knowing about.

If
you wait for a crisis or until you need something before you start
investing in your network, you may be in for a nasty shock. This is
because you haven’t spent the time and energy building and cultivating a
pool of goodwill and loyalty strong enough for you to call upon
reciprocation. When you need it - you really need it! So have a
practical system in place for networking, underpinned by an ethos and
start now, perhaps both on- and off-line

In
order for people to want to connect with you and to feel able to
recommend you, they have to respect you, trust you and believe that you
can deliver. Thus, any behaviour or statement that pulls away from being
credible and authentic is counter-productive

The
very essence of networking is to help and serve others, not so that you
can get something in return: that is likely to happen anyway.
Therefore, anything that is not taking a genuine and sincere interest in
the needs of others runs counter to the central tenet of networking

Using
your network to sell or pitch - this is a definite no-no. The goal of
networking is to help others. The benefit will come back to you over
time and often in indirect ways, hence selling/pitching is really
frowned upon, for all the reasons already stated

Not
having a clear and cohesive message about who you are and the value you
can offer: This lack of clarity makes it difficult for those with whom
you wish to network to understand what you have to offer or even how
they can help you. Develop a clear and authentic personal brand message
which is projected consistently in the way in which you behave, what you
write, what you post

Finally,
does your online persona - on all social media platforms (Facebook,
LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.) - reflect the personal brand you wish to
project? Thoroughly research yourself on Google to see what your
professional network - and indeed, potential employers - can see.
Inappropriate comments or photographs on social media display a lack of
judgment, common sense and good manners, and should obviously be avoided

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